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Saturday, February 07, 2015

Cauliflower Gratin with Sharp Cheddar and Parmesan can be a nice low-carb stand-in for Mac-n-Cheese!

This Cauliflower Gratin with Sharp Cheddar and Parmesan was first posted in 2009, and it's a recipe that has quite a few fans in spite of the not-so-great original photo. (Scroll down to see that picture and you'll see what I mean!) So when I noticed those bad photos again recently and had some cauliflower in the fridge, I decided this recipe really needed a make-over. And it was just as delicious as I had remembered, cheesy and comforting. There's something so perfect about the combination of cauliflower + cheese; wouldn't you agree?

This recipe is a close cousin to the Broccoli Gratin with Swiss and Parmesan that's also one of my favorites (and something I've made over and over for Thanksgiving.) Both of them are great as a cheesy side dish, but this time I ate the cauliflower for a low-carb main dish (kind of a mac-n-cheese wanna-be) and thoroughly enjoyed it as a meatless meal with a green salad on the side.

(Cauliflower Gratin with Sharp Cheddar and Parmesan was updated with better photos, February 2015.)

Cut a medium-sized head of cauliflower into bite-sized pieces; then cook in boiling water for 10 minutes and let drain well in a colander in the sink. After cauliflower drains well, place in baking dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray or a little olive oil.

While cauliflower is cooking, mix together finely grated sharp cheddar cheese, mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and pepper. Use a rubber scraper to spread the cheese mixture over the cauliflower. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake 25-30 minutes, or until cauliflower is bubbly and lightly browned on top. Yum!

And just for fun, here's the original photo of this recipe, which you have to agree doesn't really show it off all that well!

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Cut cauliflower into bite sized pieces. (To avoid the little broken pieces of cauliflower all over the cutting board, cut through cauliflower stem, then pull apart the flower end.) Put cauliflower in a small pot, add water to cover by a few inches, then bring to boil and cook 10 minutes, or until cauliflower is just starting to get tender. Drain into a colander placed in the sink.

Spray a large glass or crockery baking dish with olive oil or non-stick spray, then pour the well-drained cauliflower into the dish and spread out evenly. Use a rubber scraper to spread gratin mixture over the top of the cauliflower. (This is not a sauce that completely covers the cauliflower, more like a topping.) Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes, or until cauliflower is bubbling and lightly browned. Serve hot.

This recipe could be suitable for any phase of the South Beach Diet, but you'd need to use low-fat sharp cheddar, low-fat mayo, and low-fat sour cream if you're making this for South Beach. With regular dairy products, this would be suitable for most other types of low-carb eating plans.

Nutritional Information?
I chose the South Beach Diet to manage my weight partly so I wouldn't have to count calories, carbs, points, or fat grams, but if you want nutritional information for a recipe, I recommend entering the recipe into Calorie Count, which will calculate it for you.

More Meatless Cauliflower Paired with Cheese

(Recipes from other blogs may not always be South Beach Diet friendly; check ingredients.)

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I am always looking for more ways to use cauliflower as I love the vegetable. Do you think this can be assembled ahead of time and then baked? The ingredients are probably fantastic together. Thanks for the inspiration.

I'm glad people are liking this, because it's such an easy way to make this type of dish, so much easier than making an actual sauce. Definitely I think this can be made ahead, refrigerated, and then cooked later. If you have time, I'd take it out of the fridge and let come to room temperature before you bake.

Some day I'm going to learn to love cauliflower, and when I do, I'm going to make this recipe. I try once every year to find a cauliflower dish that will change my mind about it. Usually melted cheese will do the trick!

I love this dish, I made it last week with cheddar & stilton, then on Sunday with just Port Salou & a low fat creme fraiche sauce.It makes life so much easier when you can just pop things in the oven & more or less forget about them.;0)

Kalyn, I can't thank you enough for this recipe. I have a terrible weakness for mac and cheese and I was mourning not having it in my life anymore. You totally have come to my rescue!! I made this last night and my entire family just snarfed it up in utter ecstasy. It is BETTER than mac and cheese. This dish is such a keeper. Again, thanks.

My sweet husband just brought me two lovely heads of cauliflower from our garden. I am so happy to find this recipe. We love your twice baked cauliflower and enjoy it on special occasions. Thanks so much.

I made this recipe tonight out of hopes to find something different to eat, as my veggie likes are limited. I am still on phase one of the SBD and have become bored with some of my options. I made a combo cauliflower broccoli chicken chunk bake. I was missing some of the ingredients so I used a dab of sugar free soy milk instead of sour cream and didn't have dijon so I used a dash of montreal chicken seasoning and a dash of olive oil and it was divine!!! Even the kids LOVED it!!! I know mine was a bit diff but it was inspired by your recipe. Thanks for the great ideas, choices...HOW WONDERFUL!!!

Sue, you could try it, but I honestly don't know how that would work. I think the melting aspect of Greek yogurt is a little different and I wonder if it will be watery here. But let me know how it works if you try it!

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